Some Shariah screening decisions require nuanced analysis, ratio checks, and scholar consultations. This is not one of them. Casinos are out. They have always been out. They will always be out. Every single major Shariah screening methodology (AAOIFI, Dow Jones Islamic Market, S&P Shariah Indices, MSCI Islamic, FTSE Islamic) rejects gaming and casino operators at the sector level.

But since people still ask, let's actually walk through why, look at the specific names (MGM, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, Caesars, DraftKings, and the rest), and clarify what the industry looks like once you strip out the casino rhetoric and look at the numbers.

The rule: maisir is explicitly prohibited

Maisir (gambling) is prohibited in the Quran by name. Surah Al-Maida 5:90 groups it with khamr (intoxicants) and calls both "abominations of Satan's handiwork." There's no interpretive flexibility here. Every major school of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) has held gambling to be prohibited. This has been the consensus for 1,400 years.

The prohibition isn't limited to personal participation. It extends to facilitating gambling, profiting from it, and investing in businesses whose core purpose is to run gambling operations. Shaykh Taqi Usmani, Shaykh Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Shaykh Nizam Yaquby, the OIC Fiqh Academy, the IIFA, the Saudi Grand Mufti, and every Shariah supervisory board I know of agree: casino stocks are not eligible for Shariah-compliant portfolios. Period.

So the screening decision for MGM, Wynn, Las Vegas Sands, Caesars, and Boyd Gaming is decided at the sector test. It doesn't matter what their debt-to-market-cap ratio is. It doesn't matter how much of their revenue comes from rooms and food versus gambling. The core activity is prohibited.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM)

MGM operates Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Aria, Luxor, New York-New York, Park MGM on the Strip, plus Borgata in Atlantic City, multiple regional casinos in the US, MGM Cotai in Macau, and the BetMGM online sportsbook joint venture.

Core business breakdown (approximately):
- Gaming revenue (casino floor): ~45 percent of total
- Rooms, food and beverage, entertainment: ~50 percent
- Other (retail, leases, management fees): ~5 percent

So under a generous interpretation, you might think, "only 45 percent of MGM is gambling, the rest is hospitality." That interpretation doesn't work in Shariah screening. The reason: the whole operation exists to drive foot traffic to the casino floor. Every room, every buffet, every Cirque du Soleil show, every Britney Spears residency is there to keep people in the building and feed them back into the gaming floor.

The hospitality revenue is a functional subsidy to the casino operation. It's how the business model works.

Beyond that, the 45 percent of revenue coming directly from maisir is more than 9x the 5 percent tolerance for non-permissible income. Even if you generously treated all hospitality as independent, the gambling revenue alone is disqualifying.

Debt-to-market-cap: For anyone curious, MGM's debt ratio is also well above threshold. Long-term debt around $26 billion against a market cap of roughly $11 billion. That's over 200 percent. Financial ratios fail too, but they're not even needed to reject the stock.

Result: Fail by sector screen. Not close.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS)

After Sands sold its Las Vegas Strip properties in 2022, the company became a pure-play Asia gaming operator. It now owns Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and multiple properties in Macau.

Core business: Over 80 percent of LVS revenue is direct gaming revenue. This is one of the purest casino companies in existence. There's no argument to be made here.

Result: Fail. Permanently.

Worth noting: Las Vegas Sands' founder Sheldon Adelson was famously open about the nature of the business. It's a gambling company that happens to have hotels attached, not the other way around. The company doesn't pretend otherwise.

Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN)

Wynn Las Vegas, Encore Las Vegas, Wynn Macau, Encore Boston Harbor, plus the online Wynn Interactive sportsbook.

Core business: Heavy casino concentration. Roughly 65 to 70 percent of revenue from gaming depending on the year.

Debt-to-market-cap: Very high. Around 180 to 200 percent depending on the quarter.

Result: Fail. Never eligible.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR)

Caesars owns Caesars Palace and related Strip properties, plus regional casinos across the US, and operates Caesars Sportsbook (online sports betting).

Core business: Casino and online sports betting. Both are maisir.

Debt-to-market-cap: Exceptionally high. Caesars has been highly levered since the post-bankruptcy restructuring years ago. Debt ratio well over 200 percent.

Result: Fail.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD), Red Rock Resorts (NASDAQ: RRR), Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ: GDEN)

Regional casino operators, all primarily running gambling operations. All fail the sector screen.

The online sports betting question: DraftKings, FanDuel, etc.

Online sports betting is a newer category that some Muslim investors have asked about specifically. Is a sportsbook operator fundamentally different from a casino operator?

No. Sports betting is maisir. The contract is a wager on an uncertain outcome. Whether you're pulling a slot machine lever, playing blackjack, or betting on the Lakers -5.5, the Shariah analysis is the same: it's gambling.

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG): Online sports betting and iGaming operator. 100 percent gambling revenue. Fail.

FanDuel (subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, which trades as FLTR.L and FLUT on NYSE): Fail. Flutter is one of the largest online gambling companies in the world.

Entain (ENT.L): UK-listed online gambling operator (owns Ladbrokes, Coral, BetMGM joint venture). Fail.

Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN): Regional casinos plus the ESPN Bet sportsbook joint venture. Fail.

Fantasy sports, poker, daily fantasy, esports betting: all treated the same. If the activity is a wager on an uncertain outcome with a winner who takes the loser's stake, it's maisir.

What about "gaming" companies that don't do gambling?

This is where terminology gets confusing. In English, "gaming" can mean either gambling or video games. The video game industry is structurally different from the casino industry and is mostly halal at the sector level.

Electronic Arts (EA): Game publisher. Passes sector. Financial ratios generally pass too.
Take-Two Interactive (TTWO): Same.
Activision Blizzard (now part of Microsoft): Was passing sector. Now part of MSFT.
Nintendo (7974.T): Japan-listed game company. Passes sector. Conservative balance sheet. Passes ratios.
Sony (SONY): Diversified, including PlayStation. Passes sector.
Roblox (RBLX): User-generated gaming platform. Passes sector.

Video games can still have issues in specific cases. Loot boxes in some games have been argued by a few scholars to resemble gambling mechanics because they involve paying for a random reward. Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad and others have commented on loot boxes specifically. The scholarly opinion is divided. For screening purposes, the major Shariah indices have not generally treated loot box revenue as non-permissible income unless it becomes a dominant revenue line. EA and Activision generate meaningful but minority revenue from loot boxes and microtransactions. They generally still pass the 5 percent threshold.

So "gaming" as in video games is mostly fine. "Gaming" as in casinos is not.

Slot machine and table equipment manufacturers

This is where things get technically interesting. Companies like International Game Technology (IGT), Aristocrat Leisure (ALL.AX), and Scientific Games (now Light & Wonder, LNW) make the actual machines and software that casinos use.

Are these companies also non-compliant? Yes. Manufacturing gambling equipment for the purpose of gambling is considered a facilitating activity and falls under the same prohibition. These companies fail the sector screen.

Casino REITs

Vici Properties (VICI) and Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) are real estate investment trusts whose main tenants are casino operators. They own casino buildings and lease them back to MGM, Caesars, and others.

REIT structure aside, these companies' primary business is collecting rent from casinos. That economic link is direct enough that mainstream Shariah screening methodologies reject them at the sector level. Shaykh Mohammad Taqi Usmani and AAOIFI have both addressed the question of whether a landlord can lease property to a non-compliant business, and the classical position is that it's also prohibited because you're knowingly facilitating the prohibited activity.

VICI and GLPI: fail.

What about state lotteries and lottery companies?

State lotteries are government-run gambling operations. Companies like IGT and Scientific Games also sell lottery systems and services. Lottery revenue is maisir. Same treatment. Scientific Games' lottery business is a significant portion of its revenue.

The bottom line

Casinos and sports betting are the cleanest "no" category in all of Shariah investing. Maisir is explicitly prohibited. There's no 5 percent tolerance that saves any of these names. MGM, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, Caesars, Boyd, Red Rock, Golden, Penn, DraftKings, Flutter, Entain, IGT, Aristocrat, Light & Wonder, VICI, and GLPI are all permanently out.

If you had any of these in a portfolio thinking they were "hospitality" or "entertainment" companies, they're not. They are maisir businesses with hotels and restaurants attached.

Video gaming companies (EA, Nintendo, Take-Two, etc.) are different and usually halal at the sector level. Don't confuse the two.

Run your portfolio through FaithScreener if you want to see any casino exposure you might have (including indirect exposure through REITs or equipment makers). It'll flag everything in the sector cleanly.

Gaming and Casinos: MGM, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn , Universally non-compliant